Does Belle have ADHD?

So I'm no licensed clinician, nor do I have the credentials to officially diagnose ADHD. But I live with ADHD, and I've done a lot of reading up on the subject, and I've gotten pretty good at recognizing when somebody else might have ADHD. So does Belle really have ADHD? I don't know, but it certainly looks that way.

Image Credit: Disney

I've always identified with Belle, mostly because I'm a born bookworm. I was the one walking down the sidewalk with my "nose stuck in a book," only pulling myself out of it to cross a street. But recently I've become convinced that there may be a deeper reason why I connect with this book-loving Disney Princess. The reason being what the townspeople say about Belle.

Look there she goes; that girl is strange, no question.

Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?

This one is the most obvious:  the townspeople consider Belle "dazed and distracted." This is the trademark symptom of ADHD. After all, they don't call it "Attention-Deficit" for nothing. 

Never part of any crowd

'Cause her head's up on some cloud.

No denying she's a funny girl, that Belle.

This one is a little more subtle. Many people with ADHD have difficulty in social situations, many times because they have difficulty following a conversation because in their mind they have already gone off on a tangent. Here, Belle is said to never be a part of the crowd because she's always lost in thought, her mind elsewhere.

With a dreamy, far-off look
And her nose stuck in a book,
What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle.

So, according to the townspeople, Belle is "strange," "funny," "peculiar," and "a puzzle" to them. They say that she's always either reading or off in her own little world, constantly distracted. They say that she "doesn't quite fit in," and to them it is a "pity and a sin." Many people with ADHD find it difficult to fit in with neurotypicals, especially in settings such as work or school where they are expected to conform themselves to social norms. All of this, to me, tells me that Belle might have ADHD.

So, what do you think? Did I hit the nail on the head? Or am I grasping for straws? Tell me in the comments!

To All Those Who Say ADHD is "Just a Myth"

So I was reading an article (found here) on how a study has found that kids with ADHD do better on tests when they're allowed to move around and fidget (which doesn't surprise me at all), and I made the mistake, as I occasionally do, of reading the comments. Trolls aside, I was surprised at how many people claim that ADHD is a myth made by pill pushers wanting to make more money for Pharmaceutical companies, and I was surprised by how many people had very strong opinions about how we shouldn't be drugging up our kids just for being kids. I was surprised not only by how many people had strong opinions on this, for or against or otherwise, but I was also surprised by the rampant ignorance that was present in many of these comments. The ones that were the most vehement seemed to be the most ignorant.

I am one of 15 million

In light of CHADD's #oneof15M campaign, which is to give names and faces to many of the 15 million individuals in the United States that deal with ADHD, I have decided to add my story to the many that have been shown on Facebook. I am an adult woman with ADHD. I am a Darn Hardy Dame. I am one of 15 million.

Wordle!

So I made this wordle of the words used most often on this blog. I thought it'd be kind of cool. Click on the picture to see it in full size. (^_^)

This Darn Hardy Dame Is Now a Mom!!

Yes, you read that right--I'm a mom! I'm going to use that as my excuse for abandoning the blog for over a year now, and not just say that I lost interest in it like any person with ADHD would do... *ahem*. Anyways, since you last heard from me, I've gotten pregnant and dealt with gestational diabetes, a breech baby, an emergency C-section, and five days in the NICU, along with a month of toting around oxygen tanks and tripping over cords and waking up to the beeping of an oxygen monitor. So I suppose my excuse for not blogging is pretty acceptable. It also doesn't help that I couldn't take my medication while I was pregnant.

One interesting thing I learned, though, is that the pregnancy hormones somehow managed to keep my ADHD in check. Weird, right? So now that I've given birth and no longer have those hormones, my ADHD has gone on the fritz. Add that to taking care of a 3-month-old baby, and well, you can imagine. Needless to say my life has been pretty hectic, and writing of any sort has been buried in the back of the closet with all the junk from my old life. (Not literally, although I do have a few hard copies of old stories and stuff that are with all of my college stuff. But I digress).

One thing I do want to talk about is my new job. And, yes, being a stay-at-home mom is a job. I'm sure you've heard all sorts of things about how stay-at-home moms have the hardest job ever with never any thanks and all that jazz, so I'm going to skip that little spiel and talk about being a mom...with ADHD.

A word of wisdom from Winnie-the-Pooh

Some Darn Hardy Dames and Dudes

I stumbled across this article today about 19 different celebrities who had ADHD, and I was rather surprised to see really famous people such as Michael Phelps or Paris Hilton on the list. Who would've known? I certainly didn't. But something like this gives people like me a lot of hope. ADHD isn't a curse--it's merely a way of life. These people didn't try to hide or control their ADHD--they embraced it. By using the good aspects of their ADHD, they were able to find success in more ways than one. I applaud these people who have risen above social stigmas and accomplished the things they are passionate for. Each one of them is A Darn Hardy Dame (or Dude)!!

Here's a list of the celebrities:

1. Justin Timberlake
2. Jamie Oliver
3. Karina Smirnoff
4. Will Smith
5. Michael Phelps
6. Jim Carrey
7. Ty Pennington (my jaw dropped on this one. Go Ty!)
8. Sir Richard Branson
9. Paris Hilton
10. Christopher Knight
11. Howie Mandel
12. Terry Bradshaw
13. James Carville
14. Paul Orfalea (founder of Kinko's)
15. Pete Rose
16. Michelle Rodriguez
17. David Neelman (founder of JetBlue)
18. Bruce Jenner
19. Solange Knowles

Check out the original article to learn their stories.